Smart
by Joker Lover 892
Summary: Sara Mart lives with her abusive parents. A month at Bruce Wayne's, and she sneaks out to visit her Uncle, Edward Nygma.


I looked at Katherine and Eric Mart, smiling up at them, and they glared down at me in response. I sighed; being a child was horrible, especially in this family. My parents took another swig of their beer and Katherine belched. Eric laughed, his brown eyes shining with excitement for something so little, and she laughed along, her amber eyes only glowing darkly. I looked at my hands. _Now or never_, I told myself, swallowing.

I sighed again and put down the broom. "Ka-Mama, I want to go see Uncle Edward again," I said, looking at her eyes.

Katherine looked at me with hatred in her eyes. "My good-for-nothing little brother?" she scoffed, pushing her red hair out of her face. "Nonsense, you're much better off with us." She took another swig and looked at me up and down. "Maybe you should go away, give Eric and me some time away from your ugly mug."

Eric looked above his bottle. "You're giving her to Edward?" he asked, surprised. He ran his hand through his black hair, the hair I got.

She shook her head. "No, my brother couldn't tell the difference between kid food and dog food." She laughed at her joke. Eric chuckled. "No, I'll send you to Bruce."

I sighed, and then made my face look angry. Bruce Wayne always took care of me for until he turns in for the night, then I go to Edward's. It works every time I act like I don't like Bruce. "You have to act sober to get me to him, don't you?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but I liked the look my mother gave when she was trying to think.

She laughed. "No, I have to act sober when getting you from him," she said, laughing harder. I pretended to smiled. "You aren't laughing," she threatened. I pretended to chuckle. Between her and Edward, acting like I hated Bruce was easy. She had her pointer finger jester for me to come forward, which I had to do. She slapped my right cheek, hard, so I had a metallic taste in my mouth, but I knew there wasn't any blood. Not yet, anyway. I put my hand to my cheek, though I knew all it would do is make the pain sharper.

Eric laughed. "Hey, give me some of that action," he said, leaning forward.

Katherine smiled and grabbed my hair, pushing me toward Eric. "Go to your Papa," she demanded.

I stumbled forward and cringed as Eric hit my left cheek. Katherine growled. "You didn't do it hard enough!" she yelled.

Eric turned on her. "Like you could do better?" he asked, growling back.

I sighed and let them continue like that, knowing that soon their arguing will turn to physical fighting. "Sara, get your suitcase packed for a month at Bruce's!" Katherine yelled up at me as she and Eric kept fighting.

"Yes, Mama," I said, running up the stairs.

I put all my outfits in a blood stained suitcase. My shirts were torn at the shoulders so much I just tore the shoulders off, my pants were transformed to holey knees, and my undergarments were the cleanest out of all of my articles of clothing. From someone who didn't know me, my outfit looked like one of a rebellious teenager trying for a new look. People who talked to me found it was an outfit that was made to ward people away, and my few friends knew that my parents didn't like giving me anything that wasn't a hand-me-down or covered with rat crap on it. I sighed and closed the suitcase, sitting on my bed, looking up at my ceiling.

"I need a driver's license," I said to myself. I chuckled and turned, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

?

I woke with a start, Eric holding a knife to the door. He was obviously drunk out of his mind, and I smiled, standing up.

"Don't worry, Sara," he said, cutting the door a little more. "This idiotic intruder won't go anywhere near you." He clenched his teeth and his eyes burned.

I smiled. "Thank you, Papa," I said, kissing his cheek. I grabbed my suitcase and pulled it past Eric and the evil door, looking at Katherine in front of me. "I'm ready," I said, looking at the clock. 7:00 A.M., plus four hours to get to Bruce's, he usually goes to bed around 8, and two more hours, and I'll be there at 10 on foot. I smiled at Katherine.

She smacked both of my cheeks, scowling. "You're late," she said, spitting.

"I had to get past Papa and the intruder," I said, pointing my thumb to Eric holding the knife to the door like if it moved he would stab it. Katherine sighed and grabbed my arm roughly. "Ow!" I exclaimed.

She opened the door and threw me in front of her. I saw Bruce's limousine and Alfred hold open the door to the back seat, right next to Bruce. I tried for a smile, but couldn't find one that looked honest enough, so it looked like I was straining, which I was. "Hello, Miss Mart, Mrs. Mart," Alfred said, helping me in.

Bruce looked at me, then at Katherine. "When do you want her back?" he asked through clenched teeth.

She was going to answer when Eric ran behind her screaming, "Call the Batman, he's got a gun!" He turned his head, wiped a bead of sweat from his eyebrow, then saw another door and did the same thing across the yard once, twice, thrice, four times, five, and six...

"Never is good for me," I said, looking at him.

Katherine stalked toward the limo. "In three months," she said, turning.

Eric ran to the limo with wide eyes. "You have a phone? There's someone in our house, he has a gun, he's going to..." He looked behind him. "Look out!" He screamed, slamming on top of me.

I rolled my eyes as Eric got up and dusted himself off. "At least I know he cares," I murmur. He kissed my forehead and walked inside, like that whole episode never happened.

I sighed and looked at Bruce. "You never stay at the house, care to explain?" he asked me, lifting my chin and rubbing my cheek. After a second he took his hand away and examined it. "You obviously don't go back with your parents," he said. "Why would you go there and then come back when they pick you up?"

I looked at him. "It's none of your business, now let's go," I snapped, glaring in front of me. I can act shallow, but I think Bruce is starting to know me a little more then he lead on. I sighed and started out the window as the sun was coming up, placing my chin in my hand, and drifted off.

I daydream the same thing I do every time. Katherine never showing up to Bruce's to pick me up, Edward keeping me at his house forever, letting me see whatever it was that he did. It was obviously something that didn't take much of his time, since I could see him for month's un-end and he still wouldn't have to work. I would help him with whatever it was, this time I imagined him as a journalist, and then chuckled at the idea. His face was on the papers a lot, but I never read them, I found papers boring. I nodded while Bruce was trying to talk, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy imagining Edward Nygma with a journalist cap. I laughed out loud.

"You think that a death count rising is funny?" Bruce asked, sounding serious. "I'm warning you of dangers and you're _laughing_?"

I wiped my face with my hand. "Sorry, Mr. Wayne," I said. "I wasn't paying attention."

He sighed and laid back, running his hand through his short, brown hair. "Just, don't go out, okay?" he said, looking years older. I guess I did that to him. "Okay?" he asked again when I didn't respond.

"Yeah, whatever, okay, sure," I said, glaring at the trees as they were passing, as if this whole conversation were their fault. "Yeah, don't leave, okay, sure." Heck no, as soon as Bruce leaves the house, I'll be gone. I can already see Edward and me, talking to each other, threatening boys, being the good family I never had. I smiled and breathed through my nose.

Bruce sighed. "It's a start, I guess," he said, rubbing his temple. I smiled at him, trying to be reassuring, and the one thing I could never really be if I tried.

?

At Bruce's house, I looked at the clock. 11:00 A.M. I looked at Bruce, who sat down in front of the television. I sighed and looked at the clock again, calculating the time until it was time to leave for Edward's: 8 hours. I sighed.

"Bored, are we?" a boy said from next to me. I jumped and threw my hand to his throat, threatening to strangle him. "Hey, hey, it's cool." He held out his hands as if to show me he wasn't armed. "The name's Richard. Richard Grayson, though everyone calls me Dick. What's your name?"

I scoffed. "_Dick_?" I asked. "As if I'm going to give my name to you, someone who calls himself a body part, Dickey-Prick." Bruce looked over at me and glared. For some reason, it sent shivers down my spine, so I looked back at the clock, watching the big hand mostly. "You should really consider changing your name when you get old enough."

Dick laughed. "You know, a watched clock never goes any faster. Time flies when you're having fun, or so I heard," he said, looking at the clock with me. "Come on, let's go to my room, I've got an X-Box One, a Wii Universe, and a PS4."

I glared at him. "I prefer the older games, like the Atari or the Play Station 1. No offence to your little toys, but mine are about to be extinct, and no one seems to mind."

Dick looked at me. "So you don't want to play?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

I smirked. "Not in your room, I don't," I said.

He got the picture. "I'll be right down with the PS4," he said, laughing as he left. I shook my head and looked at the clock some more.

There was something more to this clock than met the eye, I just knew it. Why else would Dick want me away from it so badly? I shook my head and saw Dick run down the hallway, his black hair following him like a very short and persistent shadow. I sighed and sat in front of him, pulling my foot out in front of him on the last second. He caught himself and looked at me. I smirked and waved slightly, standing again. He looked at me and opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. He smiled at me and punched my shoulder playfully. The only problem was that he punched the shoulder that Katherine bruised. I sucked in a breath fast.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "It's... Nothing, just, let's play something." I looked at the console in his hands and rolled my eyes. It was an X-Box One. "I thought-"

"Couldn't find it," he said, shaking his head. "Come on, let's play some Halo!" He lifted the X-Box One like it was a trophy.

"Hungry?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Are you?" he asked.

I sighed, smiled, and shook my head. "You ready to lose?" I asked, walking with him to the Living Room television. "I am the expert on Halo anything."

"We shall see, Zorg," Dick said, setting up the system.

For the next seven hours, we were fighting each other and the bad guys on Halo Reach, trying to outdo each other. "You could not work together at all," Bruce said halfway through. I laughed, mainly because I knew it was true.

?

After dinner, which was the first time I had eaten all day, Bruce said he and Dick should turn in for the night, and sent me to bed. I didn't mind, because I knew what would happen next, basically. What I didn't expect was there to be a new guest room, one without windows. I tried not to look too bummed about it. After about two hours, I got up and put on my shoes, creeping down to the Living Room with my suitcase and made sure no one was around. I was just at the Living Room doorway when I was grabbed on the shoulder. I stiffened.

"And just where do you think you're headed off to?" Alfred asked, and I sighed inwardly. "You are to stay here, Master Bruce's orders."

I turned and looked past him. "Hey, what is Dick doing out of bed?" I tried.

He didn't even turn, and that made me more curious. If he was so up with me, why wouldn't he at least see Dick 'leave his room'? "No more of this nonsense," Alfred said, grabbing my hand. "We wouldn't want you getting hurt, now, would we?" he asked.

I sighed. "So, what are you going to do now?" I asked. "You're going to march me up to my room?" I rolled my eyes.

"No," he said, much to my surprise. "Not if you give me a good reason you're down here."

I tried to hide my smile, which was trickier than forcing one. "I'm afraid of rooms without windows," I said, looking him straight in the eyes and keeping my hands not shaky and dry. That was easy. The one thing I can't control when I lie is my foot, which taps impatiently, as if I'm scolding myself for not doing it better. I sighed and tried to control my foot. "I always feel like, if there's a fire, I won't be able to leave, then I'll suffocate."

Alfred looked at me, and then sighed. "Fine, you may stay down here, just as long as you stay in the house." He looked at the luggage. "Care to explain?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Same problem with the windows thing," I said, trying to sound convincing. It was the only not lie I told him yet. "Is there a problem with that?"

Alfred sighed and let me go. I rubbed my hand and glared up at him. He walked over to the clock, stopped, then moved over to the staircase. I crooked my eyebrows, sighed, and started leaving again. Once I got out of the house, I looked and saw a green van with black question marks all over it. I stopped and locked the doorknob, making sure that I wasn't going to be in charge for a robbery. I looked at the van again and saw some people in the front and the back. The one in the passenger seat, who had a green bowler hat with a question mark in the middle and looked like he was in a suit, saw me and his face fell. He opened the door and came over, his mask hiding only his eyes, though I could tell his facial expression-confusion and happy shock. I stepped back subconsciously, and he started to look hurt, and then looked at his attire. He smiled and took off his mask.

"Edward?" I asked, looking at him.

He smiled and scooped me up in his arms. "Sara, what are you doing _here_?" he asked, nodding toward the mansion. His eyes lost all humor as they traveled to my cheeks. He put me down and knelt next to me, getting a closer look. "Oh, no," he said, his eyes angry. "I thought my dimwitted sister would know better than that." He took out some skin colored makeup. "Here, put this on for now."

I took it and smiled. "Thanks, Eddie," I said, putting it on fast. "You know Katherine, she never will learn."

A man in the driver's seat leaned out the window. "Yo', boss, we still doin' this thin'?" he asked, looking at me. "Who's the chick?"

Edward got up and looked at the man driving. "Get the supplies out, we're still doing this," he said. "This is my niece, Smart." He put his arm around my shoulders and led me to the van.

I looked at the men hauling a big contraption from the back of the van. "So this is what you do for a living?" I asked, looking back at him.

He chuckled. "Yes, this is it." He looked at me and smiled. "What did you think I did, paint people's roofs?"

I shook my head. "No, today you were a journalist," I said.

He laughed. "Could you see me as a journalist?" he asked, putting on his mask again.

I shook my head and laughed again. It still was a funny idea, but I was starting to think the reality was more humorous than the fiction. I looked at Edward once more and hugged him. "I was just about to get to your house," I said, smiling. He looked down at me with a smile. "Good thing I didn't."

He chuckled. "Well, you could _try_," he said, snapping one of the people up. "The ray isn't going to set up itself," he spat at him, watching him leave to help. He placed me in the thug's spot and poked my nose. "I'll be right back; we have a billionaire to rob."

Alfred stormed out of the mansion and looked pretty mad. "Sara! Sara Mart, get back here right now!" he yelled, then saw Edward and started forward. "Let the child go right now, you maniac, or I'll have to call the Batman."

Edward smirked. "Oh, if the Batman still has any brains under that cowl, then he would already know that I'm here," he said, pushing Alfred aside. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be just a moment." He looked at the machine and smiled. "Is it ready yet?" he asked.

I stood up and walked over to the machine. "Sara!" Alfred said, and I turned out of habit. "Get away from them, they're dangerous." His eyes were wide and alert.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, getting closer to the ray. "We're ready," one of the thugs said.

Edward smiled and walked over to me. "Then let's get going," he said. "Fire the ray!"

They did so, but nothing happened. "It's not turned on," I said. "It's also not charged. It's solar powered, and it's night now, so it's not going to work." I looked up at Edward. "Unless you have the sun in that cane of yours, I'm sorry." I walked back to the van, and Edward glared at his henchmen.

"Get back in the car," he demanded them. One of them grabbed the machine and put it in the middle of the floor in the back, and Edward got in the passenger side, while another thug got in the driver's. I got in the back with about four other thugs, and smiled at some of them, gaining more glares. "I thought I told you to _charge the machine_," he threatened. He looked back at all of them. "I can't trust you to do _anything_, can I?"

The thugs around me muttered. One of them looked at Edward. "It wouldn't have happened that way if _Sara_, here, didn't point the blame at us," he said, glaring. "We should finish her."

Some of the thugs yelled in agreement. Edward turned and glared at them all. "No one will _touch_ my niece as long as I'm still here and in charge of her," he said through clenched teeth. "And don't start blaming the child; it's not her fault for _your_ incompetence!"

"In-com-pa-what?" the thug next to me asked.

Edward turned to him. "Let's just finish this at the hideout," he said. A thug with brown hair and blue eyes glared at me, smirking evilly. "Not one word from any of you," he said, hitting blue eyes with his cane.

"Yes, sir," they all said, sitting back.

I looked at the back of Edward's head as he took off his hat and ran his hand through his red-orange hair. Two hours by foot would be about one hour with following the speed limit, which, when I read the speed we were going, is nowhere near the speed limit. I smiled and looked at all the steely eyes placed right at me. I swallowed my smiled and made myself smaller. I heard one guy next to me whisper, "For someone called 'Smart', she's not very bright." I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep. This was going to be a long trip.


End file.
